The Cat and the Brat by D.T. Brandt

What happens when unstoppable grump meets immovable sunshine? Samiel is trying to keep his head down, but the other castle guards are keen to remind him he isn't worthy of the job he'll probably inherit - his father's as captain and royal confidant. Of course, “keeping his head down” is not how they'd put it; Samiel's defensiveness is spiky, and keeps even his most likely allies at a distance. When Prince Rapuska of Tyria, a Felien, arrives at the guard corps as a diplomatic envoy to Corniss, his highest priority is getting the lay of the land. His most readily available source of information there is his new the enigmatic Samiel. Even with this chance at a fresh start, Samiel tries to keep Rapuska away so the prince’s reputation isn’t tarnished by association with him. Rapuska sees Samiel’s fire differently, however—as a keenness and conviction that may be exactly why he’s still positioned for the future he is. Their mutual concern starts small, but when Samiel is sent to accompany Rapuska back home to Tyria for the Queen’s birthday they find the whole capital has entered Felien heat season and their feelings for each other are pushed to their limits. The Cat and the Brat is a cisbi M / transgay M fantasy romance novel, with a nonbinary AMAB author.

Adult • Diversity Representation/LGBTQ+ • Fantasy/Sword and Sorcery • Romance/Fantasy • Diversity Representation/LGBTQ+/Own Voices • Fantasy/Romantic and Erotic

Content Warning: Samiel is a trans man written by an AMAB nonbinary author. The book has been beta read, edited, and sensitivity read by transmasc individuals to get the representation to be as considerate as possible, Bullying NOT related to Samiel’s transness, but may still trigger as transphobic assault, Neither monarchy nor systemic nepotism are challenged in this text, One mention of archaic lingering social structures around gender and sexuality (royal access by non-royals prohibited in order to prevent bastard offspring), challenged in narration, Lengthy explicit sexual content, Implicitly mentioned offscreen peril and potential death of tertiary/unnamed characters.